Read Online Fang Girl by Helen Keeble - Free Book Online Page A

everything!” My shoulders hit a brickwall; they’d backed me up against the side of someone’s garage.
    The two men exchanged a glance over their scarves. “What secret plan?” said the second one.
    “Who’s Hakon?” said the first.
    I stared at them.
    The first guy shrugged. “Who cares?” He leveled his gun at my heart. “Time to die—”
    “Cease!”
    We all jumped, my attackers whirling round. Someone stood poised on the roof of the parked Range Rover, silhouetted against the starry sky. In a breathtaking arc, he leaped ten feet, landing crouched in the middle of the road. He unfurled back to his full height, his velvet frock coat billowing around him, the moonlight turning his hair to pure silver. His high-cheekboned, elegant face was set in an expression of icy determination. As he faced my stunned attackers, his lips drew back in a contemptuous snarl … exposing jagged, sharp-edged teeth.
    He was a vampire.
    His pale eyes flicked to me. “Run, ma chérie ,” he said. His voice was as light and golden as honey, with a rich French accent that made the simple phrase sound like an invitation to unspeakable immoral delights. Hedropped into a combat crouch, empty hands spread. “I shall take care of these—”
    And that was as far as he got, because as my attackers had been conveniently distracted by his appearance, I punted them fifteen feet down the road.
    I hadn’t actually intended to do so. I’d only hoped to knock them off balance to give my unexpected rescuer an opening—after all, a dramatic pose was no match for two guns. So I’d shoved them, with all the strength I could muster.
    Which, as it turned out, was quite a lot of strength.
    “Quick!” I yelled as they skidded away, trailing shocked swear words. I dashed past the suddenly slack-jawed vampire. “Get them before they escape!” One of my attackers was already rolling to his feet—without thought, my blood roaring in my veins, I leaped for him. We crashed back to the ground, him flailing, me desperately trying to work out some way to subdue him. I grabbed for his hair, yanking upward with the vague thought of slamming his skull back down against the road—
    I’d forgotten my vampiric strength again.
    “AIEEEEEEEEEE!” I shrieked, reaching a high enough pitch to stun bats. I flung the severed head away with allmy strength. “AIEEEEEEEEE!” I hopped from foot to foot, overcome with utter squick.
    “Shh, hush, it’s all right!” The other vampire’s hands captured my flailing wrists. “Xanthe!” Lights were coming on in the nearest house; with a quick look around, he grabbed the corpse by the back of its collar. “Quick, back here.” He dragged us both into the shadow of the garage. After a few moments, the lights clicked off again, leaving us in darkness. I felt the tension in the vampire’s muscles ease. “Well, that went … differently.”
    I managed to get enough of a grip on myself to speak, though my voice came out in a Mickey Mouse squeak. “Is he dead? Is he dead?”
    The vampire looked down at the headless corpse. “Yes,” he said. “He is very, very dead.” He cleared his throat. “You must be wondering who I am.”
    My legs didn’t want to support me anymore. I sat down hard. “What … what happened to the other guy?”
    “I believe that he has fled, rather understandably. Now, my name—”
    “Oh God, he escaped?” Even though I didn’t need to breathe, I was starting to hyperventilate. “Is he coming back?”
    “No,” the vampire said firmly, catching my hands between his own. “Because I will not let him. I’m here to protect you.”
    I looked at him. I looked down at the corpse. I looked at him.
    “Ah …” He appeared mildly embarrassed. “I can also help you dispose of bodies?”
    “Okay,” I said, still feeling a bit shell-shocked. “You sound very useful. Um. Who are you, exactly?”
    He let go of my hand and stood, clearing his throat again. “In life, I was the Comte Ebène